A Day Trip to Wales

Oooh Good Evening everybody!

I'm writing this little post tonight from my day today. I was invited to go to Wales for the day with Kayleigh and I wasn't really sure what the plans were but it turned out to be a really nice day despite the rain.

We visited a waterfall called Swallow Falls in Conwy, Wales and it was such a beautiful place so I wanted to share some of the photos I took today.

The two above pictures are from the bottom of the waterfall where it began to get calmer. 

Here's the top of the waterfall which looks so pretty, the water was so fast and rough and powerful but it was to amazing to watch. 

Make a wish.

This part of the bottom of the waterfall was fairly still and peaceful and it was where people had thrown coins into the water to make a wish.

During our travels around Wales we also saw this Rhino filled with bottle tops. This was part of an organisation to protect the Rhinos from having their tusks cut of and taken to make money by people who hunt them, it was such a lovely idea and I think it will look amazing when it's fully filled up with different coloured bottle tops.

I thought this directions sign looked really nice and it was interesting to see how far some of the places where and which direction they were in from where I was standing.

Niagara Falls 7229km how crazy is that!

Hope you have enjoyed that little mid-week post. All these photos were taken with my Samsung Galaxy S5 phone camera which I love, it is 16 megapixels and I'm really impressed with the quality of the photos it takes, good job Samsung.

See you soon

Aoife

3 Easy Summer Hair Ideas

Hello everybody!

So while the English weather still grants us rain, it is August and it is Summer. We are beginning to see more of the sun now and then but as it may be sunny already where you are, I have a summer based post for you today.

I have fairly short hair now and although it's become a lot easier to leave it and not worry about it too much, when I want to do something with it, I can never do it because of the length. As I have curly hair, it can become quite frizzy and very hot.

I have put together some Summer Hair Ideas that are easy to do and they might give you some ideas for different things to do with your hair in Summer.

So this is a cute kind of twisted/rolled hairstyle. 

What I did was really simple.

First, part you hair centrally or however you want it, then take a small piece from each side and clip it back. Then I decided to backcomb a piece of hair from the back to give the top a bit more volume. Next you just take a bobble/hair band and tie all of your hair together into a low ponytail. Now you have to loosen the ponytail a little bit by digging your fingers behind the bobble and pulling it out making a hole, then, tuck your ponytail into the hole and make it even across the bottom of your head. To secure it and stop it from coming back out, stick two bobby pins/hair grips into the top of the roll.

I like this because it keeps my hair off my neck and stops it from making me hot when it is humid or sticky.

I think it's a nice, easy, casual look and I think it could look good with a flower crown but I don't one of them.

This next look may depend on whether you have layers in your hair or not, in which case plaits mightn't work for you, but if not this is a nice hair idea to go for.

I never wear plaits and I never thought I would once I'd had my hair cut but I really like how this looks. 

I also really like that this keeps my hair off my neck and my hat keeps me cool. It would also be a useful idea in the sun because while it's keeping you cool, the hat is also protecting your face and neck from the sun.

This last one is my hair straightened! I never wear my hair straight, it only ever gets straightened when I go to the hairdressers to get it cut.

It's surprisingly really easy to manage because there is a lot less frizz and curls and I think if you didn't normally wear your hair straight, with a bit of getting used to and a lot of heat protection spray, it could be a good hair idea.

I have chosen to do a half-up-half-down style because I like that my hair is off my face but it still looks like I've made a bit of an effort with it because it's down.

This is pretty self-explanatory but if  you haven't done it yourself before, just take the top piece of your hair and tie it like a ponytail and leave the bottom half down for the length.

I hope this has been a nice post to read with lotsa pictures to look at. I wanna give a little shoutout and a thanks to my friend Sarah for helping me with these looks and giving me advice for different things to try, much appreciated!

I hope this has given you some inspiration for some easy, cool, summer hair looks and you may want to try some of these.

See you soon

Aoife

July Favourites

Hey everyone,

So this Saturday fell on the perfect day to do a July Favourites as we've just welcomed August. I've never done a favourites post before and I was really excited, except the things I wanted to talk about were fairly new and hadn't been used and loved enough (so expect an August Favourites).

I did however remember a few things that I still love that I bought at the beginning of the month or have entered my life during the month.

(I'm not sure how my hand has appeared considerably darker on this photo than the rest.)

My first favourite this month is this moisturiser. It's the SkinSystem Young Skin moisturiser that I picked up when I was in Asda at the beginning of the month.

I particularly love this because it is matt, I have quite oily skin and I find that when I use other moisturisers, I just look really shiny and greasy. I've also tried the Young Skin Foaming Facial Scrub and I wasn't highly impressed but I am going to pick up the Foaming Face Wash and give that a try.

Mr George Ezra, you did good! I have been waiting to share this album for a good few weeks now but I thought no, save it for the July Favourites. 

This is George Ezra's 'Wanted on Voyage' debut album and I love it. He has one of those voices that doesn't match his face....if that makes sense to you. You just wouldn't expect him to sound the way he does.

If you've heard his music before, you may know him from his debut single 'Budapest'.

I thought, right, I can't just say the album's great, go and listen to it, I have to recommend some songs that are personal favourites so you can share the love for George Ezra too.

So the 5 songs I am going to recommend to you are:

- Blame It On Me

- Listen To The Man

- Song 6

- Blind Man In Amsterdam 

- Da Vinci Riot Police

So they're only a few songs that I love the sound of. Obviously your taste in music might be different to mine and you may really love a different song I haven't mentioned so if they don't appeal to you, have a listen to the other songs too.

This next favourite is a programme. Mayday aired in the UK on BBC as a TV mini-series in 2013. I enjoyed it so much that I got the dvd. It is a murder mystery about the death of the 'May Queen' on the celebration of Mayday but a lot of stories unfold in the process of finding the killer.

This is only series 1 and in my opinion there were too many unanswered questions so I'm praying for a second series and I did hear a rumour that they may make a second series, however, there is mixed opinions on whether the story has been told and you have to just get what you're given. 

Well worth a watch if you're interested and I would suggest that you do incase they make series 2 and then you will understand what has happened/ is happening.

And finally, another programme. Friday Night Dinner. It is a British comedy sitcom and it's about what happens at their house every Friday Night. 

I heard about this a while ago and I wanted to watch it but never really did, so last Friday it was on and I thought I'd see what it was like. Best decision I ever made! I absolutely LOVE it. They're already on their 3rd series so I spent the whole of last weekend watching series 1 & 2 and what I had missed of 3.

I love Simon Bird anyway (bottom left), I think he's really funny and I loved him in The Inbetweeners. It's a similar kind of humour but not as rude because it based around the family, strong language nevertheless. 

I hope you've enjoyed that and it's given you a few ideas if you want to watch something new or listen to some new music etc. I have enjoyed it and no doubt I'll be doing a favourites post for August.

See you soon

Aoife

Bright Coloured Coats & Satchel Backpacks

Hey everyone,

So Boohoo had a sale on...I think that's about all I need to say.

I found this really cute Satchel Backpack which I love. It's quite a thin, rectangular shape with a buckle on the front and a small zip pocket at the back.

I've chosen to wear it with a plain grey vest tucked into some high-waisted jeans turned up at the bottom, black leather loafers and a black hat.

I think this was around £20 and I got it in the sale for £12 which I am very happy with.

Vest: Primark

Jeans: River Island

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

Hat: H&M

Necklace: H&M

Nails: "Pom Pom" by Urban Outfitters

The other thing I bought was this bright yellow Oversized Boyfriend Coat.

I really like these style of coats, and I think you can dress them up or wear them casually. Make your own mind up as to what I've done with it here, I feel like this is smart-casual.

I chose to wear it with a grey & white striped t-shirt, high waisted jeans again, black velvet t-bar shoes, hat and sunglasses.

They also had this coat in pink, a pale blue and a coral colour. Despite this being a summery colour, it's definitely not a summer coat, 

This was £40 and I got it in the sale for £20.

Top: New Look

Jeans: River Island

Shoes: Topshop

Hat: H&M

Sunglasses: Primark

I hope you have enjoyed reading this and you like this coat and bag, unfortunately the bag is no longer available on boohoo but you can still get the coat. If you like it or are considering getting one, I would recommend it as they are really warm so in autumn and winter they will be great, maybe too warm for the day these photos were taken... I would also advise you to get it quickly as they may take them down off the website as the sale ends.

As I mentioned, it was a very hot day and it didn't help that the striped t-shirt was long sleeved. But it's bearable for a few photos. 

See you soon.

Aoife

Summer Lookbook

Hello everyone,

So I've been working on this for about two weeks now and I've finally put together my first ever lookbook. This is kind of my first attempt at fashion blogging but it's something that I've been thinking about doing for a long time. It's not great by any means but I like it and although I pictured things differently, I like how some of the photos have turned out.

I have chosen 4 outfits, all very different styles and different looks depending on what you like to wear in summer.
I'll list the pieces I'm wearing at the end of each outfit. I'll also add links if I can find them.

This is my first choice of outfit. A tie dye swing dress, sandals, floppy hat, casual bag & sunglasses.

You may recognise this bag and watch from a previous post. I've used the bag to show how you could style it.

I've heard the term 'Birk-a-likes' been thrown around and I suppose that's what these are but I love these because they go with so many things and they're so easy to slip on.

And finally some sunnies. I think this is a good beach outfit or just a good outfit for a sunny day so sunglasses are a must. 

You may also have notices that there is a posing person with my camera in the lens of my glasses. That's Kayleigh. I'd like to say a big Thank You to Kayleigh for shooting these photos for me, I know how tiring and boring it got...sorry, and thanks.

What I'm Wearing:

Dress - Boohoo

Sandals - Primark

Bag - Primark

Hat - Tu at Sainsbury's - http://www.sainsburys-live-well-for-less.co.uk/tu-clothing/products/women/floppy-beach-hat/

Sunglasses - Primark

This is my second outfit I chose. I have trouble explaining this one and why it has become how it is. 

I love how this outfit looks and I was immediately happy with the combination when I tried it. However, if it was sunny, you wouldn't wear a sweatshirt and if it was cold enough to wear a sweatshirt, you wouldn't wear shorts... Do you get my situation? 

Nevertheless, I like it and I'll wear it when I find a solution to my problem.

I paired these New Balance with this outfit as it's quite casual and the comfy sweatshirt needs some comfy shoes to go with it. I like the colour of these because you can get away with most colours to pair these with.

I accessorised this outfit with these flip-lens sunglasses, a casual zebra watch and powder blue nails.

What I'm Wearing:

Sweatshirt - Vintage/Thrift Shop find

Shorts - Dorothy Perkins - http://www.dorothyperkins.com/en/dpuk/product/clothing-203535/shorts-203566/midwash-plait-trim-denim-shorts-2916757?bi=1&ps=20

Shoes - Office (Sale)

Sunglasses - Vintage find

Watch - Paperchase

Nail Varnish - Barry M Hi Shine Gelly 'Huckleberry' - http://www.superdrug.com/Barry-M/Barry-M-Gelly-Nail-Paint-Huckleberry-19/p/883869#.U78UjpRdV6w

This is my third outfit. I don't know about you but I personally still like to wear jeans in summer. I feel like it's nicer to wear a more summery top and just have casual bottoms.

Because these jeans are high-waisted, I felt a little bit more daring and I paired them with my cropped watermelon print vest. 

As you can see, I have chosen my white 'Birk-a-likes' sandals to go with this outfit to make it more summery. Also I wore mirrored lens sunglasses that you may have seen in this post.

I like this outfit because it's simple and I would wear jeans in any season of the year.

What I'm Wearing:

Top - H&M - http://www.hm.com/gb/product/29757?article=29757-B

Jeans - Zara (without braces) - http://www.zara.com/uk/en/sale/jeans-with-suspenders-c643503p1667144.html?sharedProduct=true

Sandals - Primark

Sunglasses - Primark

And this is my final outfit. I love this because it's such a comfortable, easy-to-wear outfit. 

Patterned trousers, simple vest with a pocket on the left, sandals, sunglasses.

Although it's summer, I still like to wear pants/trousers. These harem trousers are really light and thin so if you don't feel like wearing shorts or a dress, these are a really good choice.

I paired them with a black pair of birk-a-likes which I love. I don't feel like my black ones are as easy to put with things, I always seem to choose the white ones, but that's a personal preference and I like them with this outfit.

I also chose these sunglasses, which I've previously mentioned, to go with this outfit.

And finally I added a black velvet scrunchie, which looks a bit difficult to see on here because of the trees behind me, but I took the top and side pieces of hair and tied them back to keep my hair off my face and when it's sunny it's an easy way to keep cool.

What I'm Wearing:
Vest - F&F at Tesco
Trousers - Primark
Sandals - Primark
Sunglasses - Vintage
Scrunchie - Urban Outfitters - http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/uk/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=5417411360038&parentid=WOMENS-HAIR-ACCESSORIES-EU
Lips - Tanya Burr Lipgloss in 'Chic' - http://www.superdrug.com/b/Tanya%20Burr#.U8gaJ5RdV6w mixed with Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 'Shade 01' - http://www.superdrug.com/Make-Up/Lips/Lipstick/Rimmel-Kate-Lipstick-Shade-1/p/301252#.U8gahZRdV6w

I hope you enjoyed that, a little bit different from the usual thing I post but I really enjoyed trying it out and I hope I do some more fashion things. I hope this may give you some inspiration for summer outfits and experiment with pairing things together.

See you soon

Aoife